LAS CRUCES - A presentation will be made to the Mesilla board of trustees at 6 p.m. Monday at Mesilla Town Hall about what a colonias designated community is.

Sandra Alarcon, with U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development, and Espie Holguin, with U.S. Housing and Urban Development, will attend Monday's meeting to explain and answer trustees' questions as Mesilla officials begin exploring the possibilities of seeking a colonias designation for historical residential and commercial districts in Mesilla that are bordered by Calle del Norte to the north; Calle del Sur to the south; Calle de Oeste to the west and Avenida de Mesilla to the east.

The presentation is on the agenda for Monday's meeting, but trustees will not consider any formal action.

In the U.S. a colonia is considered a semi-rural subdivision of substandard housing lacking basic physical infrastructure such as suitable drinking water, sanitary sewage, and adequate roads. Colonias must be located within 150 miles of the U.S. border with Mexico, and there are other social and economic qualifications that must be met to be eligible for a colonias designation.

Estimated costs to upgrade and improve Mesilla's water and wastewater systems, and its roads, could amount to 10 times more than town government's $1.4 million budget for the current fiscal year.

Thursday, Gov. Susana Martinez vetoed much of Mesilla's $8,630,187 state capital outlay funding requests for road improvements. Included in those was more than $1 million to rebuild Calle de Parian and $900,000 for a multi-modal path along University Avenue, near Zia Middle School. Instead, Mesilla will receive $100,000 in state funds, and town officials will have to decide how that will be used on their roads. An additional $75,000 will be earmarked for University Avenue.

"I don't understand why (Martinez) vetoed them," said frustrated Mesilla Mayor Nora Barraza. "Historically, we do utilize the funding the state allocates in a timely manner. We take advantage of that."

Legislators agree the state's budget will be extremely tight because of substantial declines in oil and gas revenues.

"It looks like it's going to get worse before it gets better," said state Sen. Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, of the state budget forecast. "There has been some mention of a possible special session in September regarding the budget. But I'm hearing (the Legislature) might be in a special session by May if we get another drop in revenues."

State Rep. Doreen Gallegos, D-Las Cruces, said it is possible the state's budget could be negatively impacted for at least the next two years.

State Rep. Bill McCamley added even more careful monitoring of the budget will be a must.

"We have to do better and think strategically," McCamley said.

With that in mind, Barraza said even before this year's legislative session had ended that Mesilla officials would be wise to begin considering other potential funding resources. A colonias designation for a portion of Mesilla would take adoption of a resolution by a majority of the five-member board of trustees, provided that portion of the town met state and federal requirements.

"I'm going to support whatever Mesilla decides it wants to do," McCamley said.

Papen would also be supportive.

"I don't see anything that would keep them from applying for that designation, Papen said.

A colonias designation could allow Mesilla to become eligible for state and federal funds that could be used for roads, water and wastewater projects. But the designation wouldn't necessarily guarantee Mesilla would receive funding.

There has been some public criticism of Mesilla's interest in a colonias designation. Another potential revenue source trustees and town officials could consider, instead of seeking status as a colonia, could be a tax increase for residents.

Barraza, trustees and town officials have not publicly spoken, or even hinted, of any notions of a possible tax increase. That option could pose a catch-22 situation for town officials and some residents because a tax increase could end up hurting the nearly 20 percent of Mesilla residents the U.S. Census Bureau has estimated live at or below the poverty line.

A list of capital outlay projects, in Doña Ana County. The list includes, in columns from left to right, the amount approved by Gov. Susana Martinez; the amount vetoed; the community and county for the project; legislators requesting funding for the project, and political affiliations, or bipartisan, legislative requests. .